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Presentation, discussion, and possible action on State Fiscal Year 2026 Homeless Housing and Services Program Award for the City of Corpus Christi.
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
recommendation
WHEREAS, the Homeless Housing and Services Program (HHSP) was created by the 81st Texas Legislature to be administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (the Department) to fund homelessness prevention and homeless services in Texas municipalities with populations over 285,500;
WHEREAS, the Texas Legislature has, through the enactment of House Bill (HB) 1 (89th Legislature), provided General Revenue funds of $6,299,984 each year of the biennium for HHSP;
WHEREAS, HB 1 included Rider 14, designating $1,500,000 of HHSP funds each year of the biennium to provide services to unaccompanied homeless youth and homeless young adults 24 years of age and younger to be distributed through a youth set-aside within HHSP;
WHEREAS, after a reduction of $72,000 for annual Department administrative expenses, funds in the amount of $4,727,984 are available for award for the HHSP general set-aside;
WHEREAS, the allocation formula for HHSP is set forth in 10 TAC §7.23, Allocation of Funds and Formula;
WHEREAS, the cities in Texas with a population that meet the threshold criteria for HHSP are Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Plano, and San Antonio;
WHEREAS, at the Board meeting of July 24, 2025, the Department presented and the Board approved HHSP SFY 2026 awards to all eligible municipalities, except for the City of Corpus Christi; and
WHEREAS, program staff is recommending an award for the City of Corpus Christi in the amount of $209,232 in 2026 HHSP funds under the general set-aside and $55,371 in 2026 HHSP funds under the youth set-aside;
NOW, therefore, it is hereby
RESOLVED, that the Director and his designees, be and each of them hereby are authorized, empowered, and directed, for and on behalf of the Department, to take any and all such actions as they or any of them may deem necessary or advisable to effectuate the award of not less than $209,232 in SFY 2026 HHSP Contracts for general funds, and $55,371 in SFY 2026 HHSP youth set-aside funds to the City of Corpus Christi (Subrecipient); and
FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Director and his designees, be and each of them hereby are authorized, empowered, and directed, for and on behalf of the Department, to take any and all such actions as they or any of them may deem necessary or advisable to reallocate the awarded funds to other eligible HHSP Subrecipients to ensure timely expenditure and program delivery in the event a contract for FY2026 funds is not fully executed by the Subrecipient on or before November 30, 2025.
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BACKGROUND
HHSP funding is allocated to municipalities with a population of 285,500 or greater for the provision of homeless assistance and homeless prevention activities. HB 1 passed in Regular Session by the 89th Texas Legislature authorized state general revenue funding totaling $12,599,968 over the biennium for HHSP. Rider 14 requires that of the total authorized funds, $3,000,000 is set-aside for provision of HHSP homeless assistance to youth under the age of 25. The Department programmed $9,455,968 of the funds to be awarded to HHSP eligible subrecipients and retained the remaining $144,000 ($72,000 per year) for its administration.
The Department administers HHSP in accordance with Tex. Gov’t Code §2306.2585 and 10 TAC Chapters 1 and 2, and Chapter 7, Subchapters A and B. Allowable activities include case management for households experiencing or at-risk of homelessness; construction, conversion, or rehabilitation of structures targeted to serving Homeless persons or persons at-risk of homelessness; essential services for Homeless persons or persons at risk of homelessness; provision of direct services; operation of emergency shelters or administrative facilities; and other Homeless-related activity, as approved by the Department in writing. For the HHSP youth set aside funds, Rider 16 specifically lists eligible services as case management, emergency shelter, street outreach, and transitional living.
In accordance with 10 TAC §7.21, Purpose and Use, HHSP provides funding to areas in municipalities with populations of 285,500 or greater, as determined by the most recent available One Year American Community Survey (ACS). HHSP is allocated to Arlington, Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston, Plano, and San Antonio. The allocation formula, as outlined in 10 TAC §7.23, resulted in the allocations listed in Attachment A to each municipality. The most recent full Point-In-Time Count as referenced in 10 TAC §7.23, which includes a full demographic count for sheltered and unsheltered persons, was conducted in 2024; therefore, the Department utilized the 2024 Point-In-Time Count in allocating the HHSP funds.
During the Board meeting of July 24, 2025, the Board approved HHSP SFY 2026 awards for all eligible municipalities and their designee, except for the City of Corpus Christi, as the City had not yet submitted its application and required documentation.
Since that meeting, the City of Corpus Christi has submitted the required application materials and met the initial eligibility criteria under 10 TAC Chapter 7. The Previous Participation Review Approval Process (PPRAP) was completed on August 25, 2025, resulting in a recommendation for award with no conditions. Program staff is recommending that the City receive its allocation of both HHSP general funds and youth set-aside funds, consistent with the allocation formula in 10 TAC §7.23.
The effective contract term for both HHSP general funds and HHSP youth set-aside funds will be September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026, unless an alternative term is requested by the Subrecipient and approved by the Department. In all cases, contracts must be executed and begin no later than November 30, 2025. Staff is also requesting authorization that if the contract with the City is not executed by the Subrecipient’s signature authority on or before November 30, 2025, that staff have authority to reallocate awarded funds to other HHSP eligible subrecipients to ensure their timely use.